The Honduran left-back has been out of action since damaging knee ligaments in the win at Burnley last month.

Figueroa was expected to miss the rest of the year, but he made an unexpected return to the bench for Sunday's horror show at Tottenham.

With Latics on the wrong end of a thumping, Martinez decided it would have been 'a stupid risk' to have thrown on the 26-year-old towards the end.

However, with Latics having shipped a staggering 14 goals in just three games without him, the Wigan boss admits he might not be able to hold back Figueroa any longer.

Martinez told the Evening Post: "Maynor has been working very hard behind the scenes, and his recovery has been speeded up by his general fitness levels and his physique.

"The treatment he has had has worked really well, but you have to be very disciplined also.

"When you have got a body and the muscular definition that he has got, it really helps with things such as ligament injuries.

"As a result, he has been better able to cope with that sort of
injury a lot better than some others, so I was not too surprised to see him recover so quickly.

"He was not 100% fit to play on Sunday, but I felt it was important for him to get back in to that environment and start feeling part of the squad again.

"He will carry on with his fitness programme again this week and we all hope he will be available to play on Saturday, which would be great news."

While Figueroa looks set to return for Wigan, one man who won't be making an appearance – on the field at least – is former fan favourite Lee Cattermole.

The tenacious Teessider enjoyed a hugely-successful debut campaign with Latics before following Steve Bruce to Wearside in the summer.

Sadly, a knee injury – similar to the one that sidelined Figueroa – is currently keeping him out of action, although Cattermole has played his part in the build-up to the game by hitting back back at Dave Whelan's suggestions that Bruce made 'a few dodgy signings' during his spell in charge.

For his part, Bruce has elected to keep a lid on the war of words, and put Whelan's comments down to a simple desire to show support for his current boss.

He said: "I could respond but I'm not going to, because I don't want it to blow up into something it doesn't have to be.

"I had a great relationship with the Wigan chairman, and the one thing he was good at was always trying to protect the manager.

"I haven't taken offence. I think he was just trying to take the heat off his manager, and I can understand that."